Quiet
by Lotus Muse
Summary: What if Natasha had joined Bruce in the shower?


_The title is inspired by Ultron's line: "I think you're confusing peace with quiet."_

The day had not gone well.

The Barton house miraculously had two bathrooms with showers which, while not enough to accommodate a group of tossed and tumbled heroes, was more than they could have hoped for. Steve had taken the bathroom the kids shared while Tony had disappeared into the en suite. Clint asked Natasha if she wanted to go first but she'd waved him off letting the little Bartons show her various drawings and a cool soda can robot they'd made for a project that was suspiciously coloured red and gold. Laura Barton passed around tea to everyone and Bruce stared into the small pink cup with a bunny on the side of it. Laura gave him an apologetic smile, "Sorry, we've never had this many people here before."

"No... It's fine really. Thank you," Bruce stammered.

Tony, ever the child of wealth and privilege was in the bathroom so long it took Steve banging on the door yelling at him to get his ass out of there and let someone else have a turn. Tony had thrown open the door (thankfully with pants on) face wide-eyed and mortified and gasped "Language!"

Maria Hill muttered about not having to deal with this kind of crap since she lived with her parents and Clint told the two of them if they were going to use up all the hot water they could go outside a get some wood for the fire.

Amidst the bickering and half-hearted jokes courtesy of Tony, Bruce managed to slip away from the noise of it all. He didn't notice Natasha watch him go.

He had just turned on the now cold shower when a soft knock at the door gave him a start. His eyes darted to the typically small bathroom window out of habit before his brain caught up with what he was doing. No one knew they were here, cops or evil murderous robots would have to get through a host of heroes before getting in the house. Besides, when had doom ever been so polite as to knock?

"Yes?" he asked.

"It's me."

Natasha.

Bruce suddenly felt something very akin to panic. Also very naked with just a towel around his waist. He turned off the shower and with a very long, slow breath he opened the door just a crack to peek out.

Natasha tilted her head to meet his eyes, her lips curved in that slight smile that he'd been surprised to discover was all playful gentleness on her part.

"I don't know if this is a bad time but timing never seems to be on our side so..." He suddenly noticed she was only wearing a robe, "May I join you?"

"Uh..." Bruce opened the door a little wider, his brain turning to soft putty as it seemed to more and more frequently around her. He didn't miss how her eyes flickered appreciatively to his bare chest. He swallowed around a lump in his throat, "I'm... I'm not..."

She took a step back to give him room.

"If you need privacy that's fine, I won't be offended," her eyes slid from playful to soft, if he needed space he could have it. She wasn't going to push. Oh Natasha, how did she read him so well? Green or not she she seemed to know exactly what he... Or the other guy needed. Could he do the same for her? His skills at people reading weren't nearly so refined as hers.

Standing before him in nothing but a bathrobe was a reasonably clear enough message he had to admit.

'Oh Bruce, was there ever a bigger idiot in this world than you? Tony maybe. Probably Tony.'

There were several things he should have done. First and foremost he probably should have accepted her offer to give him privacy, closed the door, had his shower alone and just pretended this dance of theirs didn't exist. There were a million reasons to not let her in: an army of insane robots, he was older, the other guy... There was really only one reason to let her in. A very foolish one.

It was the one that won out.

He took a step back from the door, leaving it open. He glanced at his feet and then back up at her looking every bit the ruffled little puppy that Nat honestly had been surprised at herself for finding endearing. Her smile widened, the playful edge returning as she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Bruce felt his heart start to speed up and immediately wondered if Tony really was the bigger idiot.

"Do you want to start or shall I?" Natasha purred. Bruce opened his mouth to say something but no sound came out. He concentrated on his breathing and everything he learned over the years from teachers and long hours of meditation. It helped a little.

Natasha dropped her robe and suddenly it became damn near impossible to concentrate. It had been a long time since he... With anyone and Natasha was so beautiful.

"If you need me to leave just say so," Natasha took the last two steps between then and took his face in her hands, "It's okay," she whispered as his breathing grew heavy. She was oh so close to his lips, "Just tell me this is okay."

"It's okay..." he croaked.

She kissed him and her lips were soft and warm. His arms shifted from hanging limply at his sides to around her waist, drawing her against him as her hands slipped from his face to around his neck and up into his dark, grey tinged curls. He was man enough to admit that right now in that moment he was all desire.

Bruce wasn't sure how long they were there like that until Natasha whispered against his cheek, "I think we lost our chance at hot water."

"Tony used it all anyway," Bruce murmured.

Natasha laughed and it was light and carefree and made his heart flutter. When she pulled the towel around his waist loose and gave him a nudge towards the shower he didn't fight it.

 **END**


End file.
